Publications / 2006 Proceedings of the 23rd ISARC, Tokyo, Japan

Development of a Real-Time Control System Architecture for Automated Steel Construction

Kamel S. Saidi, Robert Bunch, Alan M. Lytle, Fredrick Proctor
Pages 412-417 (2006 Proceedings of the 23rd ISARC, Tokyo, Japan, ISBN 9784990271718, ISSN 2413-5844)
Abstract:

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is developing a real-time control system for a robotic crane (the NIST RoboCrane) that will perform automated structural steel pick-and-place operations. The control system architecture is based on the NIST Real-time Control Systems (RCS) reference model, which defines a system development methodology and a hierarchical control architecture in which system tasks and associated information are decomposed and organized into more easily manageable components or subsets. The task of picking and placing a structural steel beam was decomposed into multiple sub-task levels that must be performed in order to complete the pick-and-place operation. Tasks were decomposed from high-level operator input, such as “Install Beam A” down through the controller to the sensor and actuator level on the crane, at which, for example, voltages are computed and output to individual motors. Each level was organized into a series of control nodes each responsible for executing the sub-tasks at that given level of control. The control nodes share a common generic node model for sensor information processing, world modeling, and behavior generation. The control system development effort and its implementation on RoboCrane are presented in this paper.

Keywords: construction automation, real-time control architecture, robocrane, robotic crane, steel construction, task decomposition